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BN: Okay, so yeah, we can now go to the war.

BT: So, yeah, my question was, what was your first recollection about America and Japan going to war? What do you remember about that time, that moment?

FS: For some strange reason, I think I heard it on the radio at that corner drugstore while reading comic books. It's... yeah, I could understand, obviously, what was going on on the radio. But I didn't understand the meaning of war. I knew something happened, but I recall listening to some of that on the radio.

BT: Do you remember when you got home, what happened?

FS: Not necessarily. Because I don't know that my parents talked about it that much. I was raised sort of in a protected manner, so no, there was never any discussion of that type of thing.

BT: So when it came time to move out, do you remember them asking you to pack up some things? Were there ever any personal items that you made sure that you took with you?

FS: Not necessarily. I think they made it easy for me; I think they put what they could, my mother, again, protected me in a way. I never thought anything was so unusual. In other words, to just end up with three suitcases, that type of thing. My father did things that I wasn't aware of, meaning he apparently buried the sword under the house that we were renting. Because we never had owned anything, right, because what we owned, of course, they had to get rid of. There was a piano, there was a very nice record player, artwork, his artwork. But beyond that, no, the transition was not that traumatic, if you will. It's only when one reflects, you know, the older one gets. And the age I am now, there's a lot of reflection on that period. But I was, again, maybe being the only kid, it wasn't that hectic. They didn't include me in the trauma of getting rid of things or anything. And, again, even there, I think my mother had to be mostly affected most, because for her, the contrast from Japan to an art world is very...

BT: So did you sense anything from your parents about that? Did you maybe realize that this was a terrible thing that was going on?

FS: No. I think it was, for me, it was only... well, we have to go down to St. Mary's church where we picked up a bus. And I'm looking at it from my perspective, not in hindsight. This is just, as a youngster, my feeling... nothing seemed so abnormal, if you will. Because all the people who were going were all Japanese like me, right? So I don't want to make a big... I mean, now, at my age, I can certainly say a lot of things about it, but I think we've heard those stories before. And my story is not of trauma, it was the way it was supposed to be. And so it's just a bus ride, then go to Santa Anita, and not like some of the guys that say, "Oh, the first thing I saw is the guard tower and the bayonets and all that," but it was just driving in the bus and going down into there.

BT: So what did you think?

BN: Before that, though, where were you living at the time? Were you in the Koreatown area?

FS: Yeah, Olympic. Near Olympic and Harvard.

BN: And then I wanted to just go back. With your father's artwork, do you know what happened to that?

FS: No. I don't know what happened because it isn't 'til after he's gone that I have this box of fine art, photographs. And then I knew he was doing, trying to do some painting, learning Western art when we came back. But as far as the artwork that he had at that time, I don't know what else he might have had, I think. I know that we had records and things, but I think those are gone, or were at that time.

BT: As a kendoist myself, I'm curious, did you ever recover the katana?

FS: No.

BT: No?

FS: I think he buried it.

BN: Might still be there.

FS: No, I think someone...

BN: Dug it up?

FS: I don't even know if that house is... it was a duplex.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.